Western 06
8:25:47 PM Chance: So, you and Cas and Sofia and Theo are standing outside the house. 8:28:18 PM Joe: That wasn't what I expected. 8:47:59 PM Chance: Casper: ... did we win? It doesn't feel like we won. 8:50:20 PM Joe: It really doesn't. 8:50:26 PM Joe: I think I want a drink. 8:51:10 PM Joe: I suppose we had better let you rest before flying us back, Mr. Crafter. 8:52:11 PM Chance: Theo: .... a drink sounds real good. 8:56:14 PM Joe: I suppose we ought to find a place to stay as well, unless one of you has friends here. 9:09:12 PM Chance: Theo shakes his head, so does Cas. 9:09:19 PM Chance: Sofia: We could stay in my room. 9:12:31 PM Joe: Oh no, I want room service. 9:12:55 PM *** Joe finds somebody to ask where a swanky hotel might be! *** 9:16:26 PM Chance: Easy enough to find one! You look a rather ragtag bunch... you and Casper look okay, if a bit harried, but Theo is dressed rather ruggedly, and Sofia of course has her white dress that has some blood on it. 9:18:10 PM *** Joe tidies up the dress before they get there. She has a spell for hiding blood! For... reasons. Woman reasons. *** 9:31:45 PM Chance: Sofia blinks, then hugs you again! Tight. 9:34:21 PM Joe: Erf. ... I still... need air... 9:35:42 PM | Edited 9:36:36 PM Chance: She releases you! "Sorry." 9:37:47 PM Joe: It's all right. 9:37:57 PM *** Joe smiles at her. *** 9:38:18 PM *** Joe does also pay for four rooms, or perhaps a single suite with four bedrooms, if there is such a thing. *** 9:41:45 PM Chance: Four rooms! There's a nice restaurant, too. 9:43:35 PM *** Joe drags the group there! *** 9:47:23 PM Chance: They stop Theo at the door! There's apparently a standard of dress Theo doesn't conform too. Theo looks annoyed, and gestures at the maitre'd, who then apologizes and lets him like he's wearing a grand suit! 9:47:48 PM *** Joe smiles. "What do they see you wearing?" *** 9:48:10 PM Chance: Theo: Something appropriate and overpriced. 9:51:59 PM *** Joe laughs. *** 9:52:27 PM *** Joe did put her skirts back on once they left the vampire lair, btw. *** 9:52:46 PM Chance: Good call! So, you're sitting around the table! Pleasantly. 9:55:16 PM Joe: It's rather sad, really. I suppose I'm quite young, but I cannot imagine wanting to stop living due to boredom. The world is so large. 9:58:25 PM Chance: THeo: He didn't seem the adventurous type. 10:02:40 PM Joe: I can see that, but... why not compose? 10:06:50 PM Chance: Sofia: Compose what? 10:07:07 PM Joe: Music! 10:08:17 PM Chance: Sofia: Oh. Who? 10:08:31 PM Chance: Cas picks out some wine! Theo orders a bottle of whiskey. 10:08:50 PM *** Joe offers to share the bottle, unless he's drinking for a draconic metabolism. *** 10:09:14 PM Joe: The Master, I suppose. What was his name, do you know? 10:09:28 PM Chance: Theo orders two bottles. 10:11:36 PM Chance: Sofia starts eating the bread. "Brfmrmo." She says with a full mouth. 10:15:35 PM Joe: Could you repeat that after you've swallowed, please? 10:32:34 PM *** Joe touches Theo's foot under the table. *** 10:40:08 PM Chance: Sofia swallows. "Bruxo." 10:40:20 PM Chance: Theo blinks, and looks around at the table! 10:43:30 PM Chance: The waiter comes by with the drinks! Cas pours the wine for himself and Sofia and you, too, if you want it. Theo opens one of the bottles and starts drinking it down. 10:46:23 PM *** Joe does try the wine, but then swaps to the whiskey. *** 10:46:44 PM *** Joe thinks at Theo: That was me. *** 10:50:04 PM | Edited 10:50:09 PM Chance: Theo blinks! Then smiles a little at you, over the rim of his glass. 10:54:41 PM Joe: He did not seem very happy. 10:56:30 PM Chance: Sofia: I don't think he is. I think he is the boy who wished for what he wanted and didn't want it when he got it. 10:57:11 PM Joe: What do you think would make him happy? 10:57:23 PM Chance: Sofia: To die. 10:57:37 PM Joe: Besides that. 10:59:18 PM Chance: Sofia: To not live anymore? 11:01:15 PM Joe: I don't think that's very constructive! Ugh. Well, perhaps being able to will bring the fun back. 11:04:14 PM Chance: Sofia: I don't think he finds anything fun. 11:04:40 PM Joe: I wonder if he will when he's able to die. 11:09:47 PM Chance: Sofia: Maybe. 11:09:55 PM Chance: Sofia: .... I don't think I want to kill him. 11:10:27 PM Joe: I don't either. 11:12:42 PM Joe: But he's got to be able to die. 11:16:22 PM Chance: Casper: ... I thought you immortal folks had that sort of thing figured out? 11:17:26 PM Joe: They can all die. 11:20:14 PM Chance: Casper: Huh. 11:20:46 PM Chance: Theo: There are usually terms and conditions and complications, but yes, if you jump through the right hoops, even the most powerful demon or Fae can die. 11:22:18 PM Joe: And they can certainly be killed. 11:29:41 PM Chance: Theo nods. 11:30:18 PM Chance: Sofia eats her bread, listening. Then she starts pulling flowers out of the rrangement at the middle of the table. 11:31:42 PM Joe: ... I just can't understand boredom, when one has so many books to read. 11:39:57 PM *** Joe rubs Theo's foot again. She is trying to be suggestive. *** 11:43:00 PM Chance: Theo coughs a little on some whiskey, and blushes! 11:47:18 PM Joe: Are you all right? 11:49:54 PM Chance: Theo clears his throat. "... Yes. Quite all right." 11:50:05 PM Chance: Sofia is looking between you and Theo and you and Theo. 11:53:31 PM *** Joe smiles brightly at her. *** 11:55:02 PM Chance: She sips at her wine and starts coughing. 11:55:23 PM Chance: Sofia: .... does this wine have alcohol? 11:56:31 PM Joe: Yes. Not as much as the whiskey. 12:00:46 AM Chance: She pouts. "I don't want to drink." 12:00:56 AM Chance: Sofia: I'm already a monster. 12:02:58 AM Joe: I don't think you're a monster just because you're a vampire, dear. 12:04:09 AM Chance: Sofia: I am though. I did a lot of bad things. 12:06:01 AM Joe: I've done a lot of bad things too. 12:06:11 AM *** Joe thinks at Theo: And occasionally, people. *** 12:08:52 AM Chance: HE blinks, and flushes again, hiding behind his tumbler. 7:26:55 PM Chance: Theo clears his throat. "The question, of course, is what this spell he wants will cost. Us and him." 7:27:34 PM Joe: And Sofia, since she'll be the one casting it. 7:28:28 PM Chance: Sofia blinks. "I will? 7:29:10 PM Joe: He said vampires could turn other people into vampires with it, so I did assume it was required that the caster be a vampire. 7:32:45 PM Chance: Theo: I don't know enough about the spell to speak to that. I'm sure we could find some way to offset any cost, though. 7:34:45 PM Joe: Ideas? 7:36:09 PM Chance: Sophia: IS it blood? I use a lot of blood in my magic. 7:36:42 PM Joe: That's a good idea--it's something we've got. 7:39:44 PM Chance: Theo: Almost certainly that will be a component. He'll need something of what he is, and something of what he wants to be. 7:42:18 PM Joe: Sofia's blood, then, in both cases. A vampire who can die. 7:45:46 PM Chance: Theo nods, thinking. "I would need to know more about the spell. these kinds of rituals sometimes require an exchange. 7:47:04 PM Joe: What sort? 7:52:26 PM Chance: Theo: sometimes it's one to one. He gains the ability to die, Sofia loses it. Sometimes it's a bit more... brutal, and the caster sacrifices themselves, or someone else to power the magic. 7:53:51 PM Joe: Well, we're certainly not sacrificing someone. 7:56:18 PM Chance: Theo: We can find ways around that. 7:56:28 PM Chance: Theo: IF that's what the spell calls for. 7:56:37 PM Joe: What sort of ways around it? 7:58:18 PM Chance: He eyes you! "what you you do? IF a necessary spell required it." 8:00:54 PM Joe: That's a good question. 8:01:34 PM Joe: I'm not really that familiar with this sort of ritualized magic, particularly not involving vampires and blood sacrifices. It's ... never been an area of interest of mine. What sorts of things would be appropriate? 8:06:17 PM Chance: He shrugs! "No wrong answers. just curious how you would deal with it." 8:07:12 PM Joe: I would probably ask my father, honestly. He knows quite a bit more about this sort of thing than I do, and could at least refer me to an appropriate (or inappropriate, if warranted) text. 8:30:55 PM Chance: Theo nods. "Collaboration is always a sign of an adaptable mind. 8:43:18 PM Joe: I'm quite adaptable, you'll find. 8:43:27 PM Joe: And flexible, too. 8:52:58 PM Chance: Theo nods, thinking. ""I would create a simulacrum to fill the role of the sacrifice. 8:53:26 PM Joe: You'd have to put a great deal of energy into it. 9:06:57 PM Chance: Theo nods. "If you put a gun to my head, I'd do a little necromancy. Use someone recently dead. The soul is gone, but echoes remain, very easy to put in as a substitute sacrifice. 9:07:03 PM Chance: Or some kind of automaton. 9:09:28 PM Joe: Automatons might be less... worrying. 9:13:45 PM Joe: People do tend to get very upset about necromancy. 9:14:49 PM Chance: Theo: It's true. I've used donated cadavers for my own experiments. It's very draining, beside. 9:18:16 PM Joe: Is it? I had no idea. 9:20:01 PM Chance: Theo: Mmmm. I had thought there might be ways to automate the process, but then I realized that in most cases, the automation renders the necromancy moot. 9:21:48 PM Joe: And it doesn't smell, which is nice. 9:24:53 PM Joe: I suppose we had better get some rest. 9:28:14 PM Chance: Sofia: I'm not tired. 9:29:54 PM Joe: No? What would you like to do? 9:30:19 PM Chance: Sofia: Turn into a bat. You? 9:34:01 PM Joe: I think people would be upset if I just said it aloud. 9:40:04 PM *** Joe smiles. *** 9:41:00 PM Chance: Sofia: .... Turn into bad breath? 9:41:53 PM Joe: Oh no. Ravish somebody. Or be ravished by somebody, I'm not terribly particular. 9:42:52 PM Chance: She blinks! "What means 'ravish'? that is a vegetable, I thought." 9:46:19 PM Joe: You are thinking of radishes. 9:46:42 PM Joe: In this context, ravish means "have sex with." 9:46:46 PM *** Joe observes the men. *** 9:48:06 PM Chance: Cas is studying, intently, the label of the wine bottle. Theo is looking you in the eye. 9:48:39 PM *** Joe smiles at them both. *** 9:49:31 PM Joe: ... sorry. Bad heritage, you know. 9:50:03 PM | Edited 9:50:05 PM Chance: Sofia: pick me, pick me! She hops up and down. 9:50:40 PM Joe: My dear, I love you in an entirely different way. 9:51:50 PM Chance: She pouts, but smiles. 9:55:24 PM *** Joe pats her back. *** 9:55:42 PM *** Joe thinks at Cas: Sorry. I should try harder not to embarrass you. *** 9:59:07 PM Chance: Cas: ... I think of it as immersion therapy. 10:01:10 PM *** Joe thinks at him: I would be happy to "immerse" you at any time, you know... not in this shape, obviously... *** 10:02:49 PM Chance: Cas: .. Theo likes you. Or he wants to eat you. One or the other. 10:04:25 PM *** Joe thinks: ... you know, that's an excellent point, I hadn't really thought about the second possibility. *** 10:06:39 PM *** Joe thinks: ... but he'll be bringing us back to Francisco and then the dragons will go off and... fly about, I suppose. I don't really know what dragons do. *** 10:19:33 PM *** Joe adds: If it bothers you, I will certainly not do it. *** 10:32:06 PM Chance: Cas: ... my interest is in my friend's happiness, chiefly. I still have too much to figure out about myself to be much use to you romantically. 10:36:53 PM *** Joe thinks: Use is a rather hard word, Cas. ... you might not realize this, but the best part of sleeping with somebody nice is that even if they're awful at it you very often get to talk to them as well, and they're always so interesting. I love people. *** 10:44:14 PM Chance: Sofia looks between you and Cas! 10:44:24 PM Chance: Sofia: Me too. But I could never eat a whole one. 10:47:55 PM Joe: That's probably for the best, I always feel very ill if I eat too much. 10:48:10 PM Joe: Well, I am going to my bedroom. 10:49:00 PM *** Joe thinks at Theo: You are invited. If nothing else I am still intensely interested in that gun of yours, it is so beautiful. *** 10:49:20 PM *** Joe thinks at Cas: ... besides, he would certainly not be the slightest bit interested if I were shaped like a man right now. *** 10:59:40 PM *** Joe heads to her room, nodding politely to everyone. *** 11:07:07 PM Chance: Sofia stays at the table! She orders five more baskets of bread. 11:07:34 PM Chance: Theo is waiting at your door. Somehow he beat you there. 11:09:41 PM *** Joe raises her eyebrows and opens the door to let him in. *** 11:10:45 PM Chance: He goes in! "... I thought I was invited?" 11:11:17 PM Joe: You are very much invited. 11:11:30 PM Joe: How did you manage to get here ahead of me? 11:12:09 PM Joe: Was it a space-folding spell, or a speed spell? Or can dragons just... do that? 11:12:19 PM *** Joe steps in behind him and closes the door. *** 11:17:20 PM Chance: Theo: I slipped int and out of Faerie. 11:17:34 PM Chance: Theo: Stepping sideways, Anya calls it. 11:17:45 PM Joe: You can do that? 11:17:57 PM Joe: Is it dragonish or magical? 11:19:56 PM Chance: Theo: It relies on being not as tightly bound to this world as most mortals. I could probably teach you. Depends on how malleable time is in hell. 11:20:46 PM Joe: ... I am not sure I ought to try it. ... I have a soul, you know. 11:22:15 PM Chance: Theo: Me too. 11:22:43 PM Joe: But fae don't consume souls, do they? 11:23:17 PM Chance: Theo: They certainly trade in them. But they don't need them to sustain themselves. 11:24:17 PM Joe: I believe I am considered a delightful delicacy in hell. 11:27:00 PM | Edited 11:27:06 PM Chance: Theo: That seems... uncomfortable. 11:27:59 PM Joe: I have never been there to find out, honestly! 11:28:01 PM *** Joe smiles. *** 11:31:38 PM Chance: Theo: I can't recommend Faerie, I'm afraid. Especially if you found England stuffy. 11:31:49 PM Joe: I did! Terribly stuffy. 11:32:15 PM Joe: ... you came here knowing I'm a succubus, without the least bit of hesitation. 11:38:25 PM Chance: Theo: You invited a dragon into your room. I think perhaps we both make suspect decisions. 11:39:14 PM Joe: ... damn, you do have an excellent point. 11:44:17 PM Chance: Theo: Well, what are we to do now? 11:45:39 PM Joe: Can we do anything? I had understood fae magic dealt mainly with illusions. As a dragon, er... well, I might get squashed, mightn't I? 11:50:03 PM Chance: He reaches out a hand to you! "It's... not just a visual illusion. Demons change their shape, they change their bodies. Demons change themselves. Fae spin illusions so intricate that we fool reality. Fae and Demons do the same things, in different ways." 11:51:47 PM *** Joe takes his hand and strokes it. *** 11:52:05 PM Joe: And you're... culturally rather human as well. 11:52:53 PM Joe: Inasmuch as either of us can really be said to be any thing. 11:55:11 PM Chance: She might feel a sensation of smooth scales, but the hand is otherwise human! 11:56:58 PM Joe: I do feel scales. ... may I touch? 11:57:05 PM Chance: Theo nods! 11:57:59 PM *** Joe unbuttons his shirt and touches his back to see if there are feathers. *** 11:59:11 PM Chance: On his shoulderblades! Just a bit, a few places where the scales turn to feathers. 11:59:51 PM Joe: ... am I feeling them because you're letting me, or would I always if I touched you like this? 12:02:57 AM Chance: Theo: You're feeling them because you're magically gifted, which gives you glimpses through the glamour. 12:05:37 AM Joe: That's fascinating! 12:06:16 AM Joe: Did you bring your gun? 12:07:17 AM Chance: It appears out of nowhere! 12:09:06 AM Joe: I am desperate for you to tell me how it all works and how you made it. If you are willing, of course. 12:09:15 AM *** Joe still has her arms around him, though. *** 12:11:40 AM Chance: Theo: I'm not jealous about my work. 12:14:44 AM Joe: I am all curiosity about your kind of magic. I know only what I have read in books, but it does seem to mesh beautifully with mine, doesn't it? 12:16:12 AM Chance: Theo: Science and magic are not incompatible. 12:19:35 AM Joe: I agree. Well, I have a proposal for you. If you do not kill and eat me, I will not eat and kill you. How does that sound? 12:20:12 AM Chance: Theo: I hadn't intended on doing either, to be fair. 12:21:00 AM Joe: Marvellous, I hadn't either. 12:21:02 AM *** Joe kisses him. *** 12:22:27 AM Chance: He kisses back! 8:14:17 PM Chance: Soooo, where were we. 8:16:31 PM *** Joe probably after a curtain! *** 8:21:38 PM *** Joe is quite snuggly if he seems to like that, otherwise not. She's pretty sensitive to her partners' moods. *** 8:22:35 PM Chance: He doesn't seem to object to it! 8:23:16 PM *** Joe probably absorbs a bit of however he's feeling at the moment and will use that to gauge what he likes or wants. *** 8:26:02 PM Chance: A bit invigorated! But content. 8:30:24 PM Joe: I haven't done that with somebody like you before. 8:32:54 PM Chance: Theo: A dragon? 8:33:54 PM Joe: A knowledgeable caster. 8:36:30 PM Chance: Theo: ... truly? 8:36:56 PM Joe: They don't usually like me much. 8:37:16 PM Chance: Theo: Me neither. 8:37:28 PM Joe: And they're so old. 8:39:17 PM Chance: Theo: And stuffy. 8:40:31 PM Joe: Oh, that's what I meant. I don't pay much attention to their bodies. 8:50:39 PM Chance: Theo: They have their very set definitions of what magic means, and what it's all about, and are very... inflexible about it. 8:51:05 PM Joe: And people, too. 9:00:13 PM Chance: Theo nods. "Quite so. I've never cared too much. But it's in your nature to care, isn't it?" 9:00:32 PM Joe: Yes. 9:00:42 PM Joe: I don't understand how people can turn it off! 9:02:35 PM Chance: Theo: Being a dragon helps, I think. Fae in general are rather.... detached. 9:03:54 PM Joe: You didn't seem detached ten minutes ago. 9:05:27 PM Chance: Theo: I'm not all Fae. 9:07:16 PM Joe: Really? Which parts? 9:07:20 PM *** Joe is teasing, obviously. *** 9:10:39 PM Chance: Theo smiles. "My mother is half-fae, and half-human. 9:10:55 PM Chance: theo: And I was raised by her. 9:13:37 PM Joe: Who do you feel most at home with? 9:15:03 PM Chance: Theo: No one, really. I feel comfortable with family and friends, of course. And the workshop. 9:18:56 PM Joe: Is it in a demiplane, on earth or in faerie? 9:21:30 PM Chance: Theo: It's a demiplane. In a nice big cave. 9:24:43 PM Joe: In a cave? Why a cave? 9:29:16 PM Chance: Theo: It's a very nice cave. 9:30:59 PM Joe: Oh! Dragons live in caves. 9:33:12 PM Chance: Theo nods. "Most of them do, yes. Some live in volcanos." 9:33:49 PM Joe: In a volcano? 9:34:25 PM Chance: Theo: Oh yes. For some dragons, lava is like water. 9:35:58 PM Joe: Interesting. 9:36:31 PM *** Joe picks up his gun, makes sure it's not loaded, and then whispers a little locking charm to it just in case. Then she starts examining it. *** 9:38:28 PM Chance: It's a gun! With runes and glyphs and fillagree decorating the metal here and there. 9:38:52 PM Joe: It is so beautiful. Where did you get it? 9:49:29 PM Chance: Theo sits up. "The base rifle, I got from some sport hunter from London." 9:52:45 PM Joe: "Got"? 9:53:12 PM Chance: Theo: ... liberated. 9:53:18 PM Chance: Theo: Acquired? 9:53:25 PM Joe: You stole it! Marvellous! 9:53:57 PM Joe: How wicked you are, Mr. Crafter. 9:54:00 PM Chance: Theo: He came to shoot 'buffalo' of all things. For sport. Have you seen a buffalo? 9:54:24 PM Chance: Theo: They're delicious, mind you, but he wasn't doing it for subsistence. 9:54:28 PM Joe: I have not! Cas and I decided we would certainly stop anyone shooting buffalo after one. 9:54:42 PM Joe: One is quite sufficient. I suppose people do get the hides. 9:59:14 PM Joe: They make lovely coats. But it seems quite excessive to leave all that meat lying around. 9:59:21 PM Joe: ... I am very fond of food. 9:59:26 PM Chance: Theo: Me too. 10:00:41 PM Joe: Do ordinary fae eat? 10:01:15 PM Chance: Theo: They.... consume. Sometimes human food, usually other things. 10:02:42 PM Joe: Other things? 10:03:40 PM Chance: Theo: Like.... disappointment. Or guilt. Or things like that. 10:04:16 PM Joe: Can you do that? 10:08:29 PM Chance: Theo: I can't. But there are fae chefs who specialize in... preparing extractions. 10:09:07 PM Joe: Damn! I would have liked to know what that feels like. 10:10:29 PM Chance: Theo: Not pleasant. I've seen the larders. 10:16:11 PM Joe: Truly? I'm told the succubus kiss is quite pleasant. 10:19:45 PM Chance: Theo: Oh, I'm sure the 'food' in the faerie larder thinks it's quite pleasant having things 'extracted'. 10:20:19 PM Joe: But that's an illusion. ... we don't do illusions. 10:21:31 PM Chance: Theo: No. Succubi also do it...naturally. The people I'm talking about do it with artifice. 10:23:03 PM Joe: ... I hadn't tried it before Cas. I don't want to live off other people like that. 10:25:42 PM Chance: Theo nods. "Well, you don't have to, do you?" 10:27:44 PM Joe: No, not at all. 10:29:39 PM Joe: ... I did try to make it nice for him. 10:31:40 PM Chance: Theo: I'm sure you did. 10:33:45 PM Joe: I don't often get complaints? 10:38:15 PM Chance: Theo: ... I don't have a lot experience, mind you, but it was quite pleasant, I thought? 10:38:37 PM Chance: Theo doesn't seem to know what to say here! 10:38:48 PM Joe: Oh, good. 10:38:57 PM Joe: Whyever not? 10:43:28 PM Chance: He shrugs! 10:46:04 PM Joe: Well, I am glad you changed your mind to have me here. 10:46:57 PM Chance: Theo: Changed my mind? 10:48:30 PM Joe: Well, if you haven't much experience, clearly you're quite discriminating when it comes to your partners. 10:49:57 PM Chance: Theo: ... I haven't had a lot of people exactly lining up. 10:51:43 PM Joe: That's impossible. 10:56:26 PM *** Joe runs a hand very lightly down his chest. "It may only be an illusion, but it's a very good illusion of a very handsome man." *** 10:56:56 PM Chance: Theo: It's still me. Just... an aspect of me. 10:58:44 PM Joe: All the more reason, then. 6:44:30 PM Chance: Josie was checking out his gun. 6:46:18 PM *** Joe was! Not a euphemism, either, as she's already "checked out" that one. *** 6:49:03 PM Chance: It was apparently stolen, too. 6:52:31 PM *** Joe was inordinately amused by that. *** 6:52:55 PM Joe: Perhaps it's the detachment. 6:53:20 PM Chance: Theo: what is? 6:54:32 PM Joe: Why people aren't lining up. 6:56:01 PM Chance: Theo: ... I don't know. I do have a theory that dragons radiate a kind of antipathy just unconsciously. 6:56:45 PM Joe: If so it must be a magical effect, and I seem to be immune to it. 6:57:08 PM Chance: Theo: Just a theory I've had, and not in regards to this. I haven't really noticed. 6:57:29 PM Chance: Theo: But dragons in stories are always very terrifying and intimidating. 6:59:53 PM Joe: And enormous. 7:01:22 PM Chance: Theo: There's always some exaggeration in myth, isn't there? 7:02:17 PM Joe: You are not exactly small in your other shape. 7:03:05 PM Chance: Theo: Not the size of a castle, though. 7:03:27 PM Joe: Unless it was quite a small castle, no. 7:06:33 PM Chance: Theo: anyway, you're brilliant and beautiful, someone could ask the same questions of you. 7:12:35 PM Joe: Oh, I am not short of partners. 7:12:42 PM Joe: Most of them prefer me not to talk, however. 7:12:51 PM Joe: Not when I'm a woman, at any rate. 7:13:51 PM Chance: Theo makes a face. "I see." 7:15:29 PM Joe: Very little can make up for poor conversation, don't you find? 7:16:19 PM Chance: Theo: Conversation isn't really a talent of mine. At least not as far as that.. thing... some folks can do where they just talk and talk without saying anything. 7:16:27 PM Joe: Hmm. Normally I am not much for ornamentation, but the filigree on this is really lovely. 7:17:28 PM Joe: That sort of conversation is an art form. 7:18:13 PM Joe: But certainly not appropriate for situations such as this one. 7:22:42 PM Chance: Theo: Just seems like a waste of time. 7:24:41 PM Joe: Filigree, or pleasantries? 7:25:21 PM Chance: Theo: Conversations where people talk about nothing. 7:25:45 PM Joe: Pleasantries! 7:25:58 PM Joe: I suppose the filigree was there when you got it. 7:26:03 PM Joe: Tell me what these levers do? 7:26:26 PM Chance: Theo: No it wasn't. It wsa a fairly artless thing when I got it. 7:27:02 PM Joe: Ah! So some things are allowed a little pointless ornamentation, then. 7:27:05 PM *** Joe teases a bit. *** 7:34:46 PM Joe: You are far too beautiful to be a puritan. And if you made this, you make too beautiful things as well. 7:35:08 PM Chance: Theo: If someone likes it, it's not pointless. 7:36:51 PM Joe: What do these levers do? 7:39:03 PM Chance: Theo: That one inscribes the bullet with a rune of opening. That one with a rune ghosts, and that one with a rune of lightning. 7:40:53 PM Joe: A rune of opening? 7:41:52 PM Chance: Theo: For doors. 7:44:09 PM Joe: Oh, good, I had worried. 7:45:04 PM Chance: Theo: It wouldn't work on a person unless they are also a door. 7:45:36 PM Joe: No. Of course, the bullet still would. 7:46:36 PM Chance: Theo: No, the runes change the bullet and turn them into a directed spell. 7:47:35 PM Joe: Oh, that's fascinating! how often do you use that function? 7:48:03 PM Joe: What do the ghosts and lightning runes do? 7:48:45 PM Chance: Theo: I've never used the ghost bullets, but theoretically, they should act as a very.... dramatic means of exorcism. 7:50:24 PM Joe: Do they work on demons? 7:52:16 PM Chance: Theo: And faei, if they are in an incorporeal form. 7:52:57 PM Joe: Terrifying! I would not like to be sent to hell. 7:56:14 PM Chance: Theo: As I said, I have not had a chance to try it yet. 7:56:58 PM Joe: I enjoy exploration, but I would prefer not to do that sort. 7:59:10 PM Joe: Other sorts of experimentation with magic, perhaps. 7:59:40 PM Chance: Theo: Like what? Tell me about some of the magic you've done? 8:01:27 PM Joe: I animated an orchestra's instruments to play on their own. 8:02:22 PM Chance: Theo: Did you provide the music? Or did you use the echoes of past performances? 8:03:32 PM Joe: I learned the instruments, largely. Or at least, at the elementary level. Then I took a bit of the spirits of the performers and invested them. 8:04:23 PM Chance: Theo: so you actually had to conduct, fascinating. Do you like music? 8:05:41 PM Joe: Oh yes, very much. I am afraid I am a very bad conductor, though. And then I very nearly got caught. 8:12:22 PM Chance: Theo: I feel like I'm missing some context concerning the circumstances of this particular feat. 8:13:27 PM Joe: The conductor very much objected to my relationship with his daughter. And for once it was entirely innocent, too! She was half still a child, one could not think of her in that way. 8:22:40 PM Joe: We were both very fond of the cello. 8:25:46 PM Joe: And there was actually a boy she liked--one much closer to her own age in her head. 9:17:34 PM Chance: Theo nods. "still more than I could manage." 9:18:39 PM Chance: Theo: .... the music, I mean. I like it, but I've always had a hard time to figuring it out. 9:19:56 PM Joe: The harpsichord was the most difficult, really. 9:22:32 PM Joe: I had to take lessons for quite some time. 9:27:14 PM Chance: Theo: Have you ever built anything? Engage in any artifice? I should think you would be quite good at it. 9:31:33 PM Joe: Oh, I suppose so, in my own small way. 9:31:48 PM Chance: Theo leans forward, interested! 9:33:56 PM Joe: ... you'll laugh at me. 9:36:22 PM Chance: Theo: I once built a clock that would set on fire when its hands reaches 1:43. 9:36:57 PM Joe: Really? Why? 9:37:22 PM Chance: Theo shrugs. "I was bored." 9:37:34 PM Chance: Theo: And left alone with a broken clock. 9:37:44 PM Chance: Theo: ... even a broken clock will catch fire twice a day. 9:38:01 PM *** Joe laughs. *** 9:38:57 PM Joe: Truly, it is only that I do not seem to be very good at it. 9:39:13 PM | Edited 9:39:18 PM Chance: Theo: Well, tell me. 9:39:46 PM Joe: Oh, it was one of those horseless carriages. I took it apart and could not put it back together again correctly. And I spent ages on it. 9:40:44 PM Chance: Theo: Combustion engines are... difficult. And don't like magic that much, I"ve found. 9:41:17 PM Joe: There were always two screws left over. Every time. 9:43:34 PM Chance: Theo: IT's a device that is powered by explosions. Volitility is in its nature, and it's a difficult nature to pair with magic. 9:45:31 PM Joe: Is it? I didn't have much trouble with that part of it, it was just the screws. I never did work out where they were supposed to go. After the second time I started over I quite gave up and just used magic to make it go faster and need less fuel. 9:46:32 PM Chance: Theo: What were you trying to do in the first place, then? 9:47:19 PM Joe: Oh, nothing really. 9:48:31 PM Joe: They make a lot of noise and they're fun to ride on, so of course I had to have one. Then I wondered how they worked so of course I had to pull it apart and put it back together. Only I obviously did not do it correctly because I had those screws left over. 9:49:40 PM Joe: And after the second time starting over and the third time putting it back together I gave up when I still got extra screws. 9:50:00 PM Chance: Theo: I always think of extra screws as a gift from the machine. Who can't use extra screws? 9:50:23 PM Joe: Do you get them too? 9:51:04 PM Chance: Theo: Very constantly. 9:51:43 PM Joe: How do you live? It bothers me, things like that. 9:55:45 PM Chance: Theo: .... a little mystery is a fair price to pay for extra screws, don't you think? 9:55:58 PM Chance: Theo: .. you didn't happen to bring your carriage with you, did you? 9:57:23 PM Joe: No, but I Marked it, so I can summon it. People do tend to object to all the smoke and the banging--and I had it magicked quiet and the smell to roses, but it wasn't as fun that way so I took it off. 9:58:35 PM Chance: Theo: We could fit it with wheels more suited to getting around the wild places here. 9:59:52 PM Joe: I like that idea. 10:01:03 PM Chance: Theo: Then it could be as loud and smelly as you want. 10:01:31 PM Joe: That sounds marvelous! 10:01:54 PM Joe: I do not think there can be a point to riding in an automobile if you are not filthy by the end of it. 10:03:54 PM Chance: Theo: I heard a story about someone swallowing a bee. .... not sure why they didn't just keep their mouth closed. 10:04:21 PM Joe: Probably because they were shouting TALLY HO or something of that nature. I often do. 10:05:17 PM Chance: Theo: I like roaring sometimes. 10:06:04 PM Joe: I do too! Though of course it's much smaller. It really only works when I'm a man. 10:06:25 PM Joe: Damn! I meant not to talk about that. People do seem to find it upsetting. 10:07:11 PM Chance: Theo: About what? 10:20:21 PM Joe: Oh, changing shape and the like. 10:20:53 PM Chance: Theo: Doesn't bother me, though. 10:21:28 PM Joe: But you said you preferred women? 10:24:41 PM Chance: Theo: Sexually, sure. Just like I'm sure you prefer humanoids sexually. But... that's not all there is, right? It's not just sex. 10:26:16 PM Joe: Well, no, obviously not. I suppose you technically aren't a humanoid. I suppose I just prefer people. 10:27:53 PM Chance: Theo shrugs. "Your nature doesn't bother me." 10:29:31 PM Joe: You say that, but I'm sure you'd find it disturbing if I were a man right now. 10:31:15 PM Chance: Theo: Why? Because you'd be a naked human male? I might not be as physically attracted to you, but there are degrees between 'disturbed' and 'not necessarily physically attracted'. 10:32:22 PM Joe: ... oh. Most men seem to find it actively disturbing. 10:32:45 PM Chance: Theo: ... most men are stuck to one shape or seeming. 10:40:51 PM Joe: Well, yes. 10:42:09 PM Chance: Theo: And they invest a lot into who they happen to appear as. 10:45:04 PM Joe: Which we don't. Well, I don't. 10:45:38 PM Chance: Theo shakes his head. 10:47:02 PM Joe: ... you know, I think I like you. 10:47:27 PM Chance: Theo: I think I like you, too. 10:48:32 PM *** Joe sets the gun down and pouncesnogs him! ***